Sorry it's taken me so long to post another prompt. Time seems to fly by so quickly and by the time I think about it...well...enough excuses; here's the next prompt. Harry sent me the image (thanks, my friend), so I'm assuming it is his. I look forward to seeing what you come up with for it.

Have fun and God bless,
shadowlight
with God all things are possible_________________Be patient with me. Like any good story, I'm a work in progress.

We left Port Jefferson on a cold winter morning. I remember the ice in the harbor and the fore and aft lines, frozen stiff as steel cables .... a week later we were in Jamaica, sunning ourselves on deck and watching the girls walking the sands of Ocho Rios. The sea had brought us here ... within a week we were in Paradise.

The sea was our savior, our guide, and sometimes our bête noire. When its broad-shouldered might threatened us, we begged it to forgive our sins, but we sinned again when the weather calmed. The sea knew that men who sailed were simple souls and hardly worth saving. It treated us like children ... the children of the sea.

The sea was our mother, our father and our brother ... and last of all it was the soft blanket that covered us at the end. On this mild autumn night, under the hunter's moon and close by the plot of land that was once our home, we will sleep. We can trust the sea now, more than we ever trusted it before. It can harm us no more.

"Long time between ports." That was our simple excuse. Civilization dropped away when the land dropped below the horizon and the weeks went by. The same unwashed faces – the same things to say – the same stories we told yesterday, tell today and will tell again tomorrow. A sailor will tell you he takes better care of his ship than himself. He loves her more ... she is his savior in time of trouble.

But in the end the sea shall prevail._________________We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.
Ernest Hemingway

It was a night like every other night. Clear and cold. Especially out here on the water. “Spring should have been here long ago,” Trina murmured. “Summer should be right around the corner.”

“What’s that?”

She turned to the odd little creature standing beside her. “I said spring should have been here by now, Koh.”

The three-foot tall, blue-gray bird tilted its head. “If it should be, it would be.”

Trina sighed. “Not necessarily.”

“Explain.” The moon shone through a gap in the trees, hovering over the old, abandoned lighthouse. Koh’s body took on a silver tinge. “What you express does not make sense.”

“It makes perfect sense.”

Koh flapped his feathers. “It is not logical. Not in any way logical.”

They broke through the trees and onto the beach. Koh’s feathers shimmered. Or rather the water shimmered through him, mixing with the moonlight. He seemed almost ephemeral, or otherworldly. “It makes just as much sense as a bird chameleon. Or Cheshire cat. The way you react to your surroundings doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t happen. It’s not …"

“Logical?” Kohs strutted down the beach. “It is perfectly logical to me.”

Trina jogged along to keep up. “But that’s not logic.”

“That depends on how one looks at it.” Kohs stopped. “Should not the sun be rising soon?”

“How am I supposed to answer that?” She stood beside him and looked at her watch.

Kohs flapped his wings until his feet left the ground and hovered in front of her and met her eyes. “With the truth of course.”

She glanced at the dark sky and frowned. “According to my watch, morning should have been here hours ago. People should be out on the water fishing and boating. Hikers should be arriving any minute.”

“And yet none of that is occurring.”

“No, it’s not.” Her chest tightened. “Why isn’t it ‘occurring’?”

The bird-like creature lowered himself to the ground. “Is that a rhetorical question, or would you like an answer?”

Trina pulled her hood over her head and zipped up her sweatshirt. “Aren’t truth and logic the same?”

“No necessarily. At least not according to you.”

“You’re talking in riddles.” She pushed to her feet. “I don’t want to play games. I want answers. Where is everybody? Why hasn’t the sun come out?”

“Is the answer so important?”

She scowled at him. “Of course it’s important. What if the sun never comes out again?”

“Will that be such a bad thing?” Koh strode toward the water. “I enjoy the night. It is peaceful. Calm. Moonlight is not so harsh as the sun and the stars shine so…it would be a shame to lose sight of them during the day. ”

A breeze whispered through the trees behind them. Trina shivered. “What do you mean?” She joined him at the water’s edge. “This is your doing, isn’t it? What have you done?

_________________Be patient with me. Like any good story, I'm a work in progress.

Harry, I really enjoyed this little snippet. There's so much characterization in the few lines...and the sea and the boat become people. I love the relationship you describe between then. In some ways it's a little melancholy, but I still love it.

Well done, my friend. I'm glad you shared this.

Marlicia
with God all things are possible_________________Be patient with me. Like any good story, I'm a work in progress.

Hats off to Trina who has asked the dumbest question of the week! "Aren't truth and logic the same?" And that bird of hers ... Koh, is it? No sun to warm the earth and make the bird seed grow .... I think you have created the two most innocent and misguided creatures of your vast repertoire of fantasy creatures, Marlicia. What a great story this will make if and when you pick up the thread of this story again!_________________We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.
Ernest Hemingway

Hats off to Trina who has asked the dumbest question of the week! "Aren't truth and logic the same?" And that bird of hers ... Koh, is it? No sun to warm the earth and make the bird seed grow .... I think you have created the two most innocent and misguided creatures of your vast repertoire of fantasy creatures, Marlicia. What a great story this will make if and when you pick up the thread of this story again!

Harry, my friend,

Thanks for taking the time to read and comment on this for me. I really appreciate it. I guess Trina and Koh are a bit naive and innocent, aren't they? I'm not sure what Koh eats, but whatever it is must require sunlight...unless he's not from around here, LOL. I'm really glad you like the characters and the story. I don't know where it is going, if anywhere. It's been really hard for me to write lately since things have been busy. Still, I like these characters, so who knows. ) Thank you for your encouragement and kind words.

God bless and have a wonderful day!

Marlicia
with God all things are possible_________________Be patient with me. Like any good story, I'm a work in progress.

Okay, I'll admit it. I haven't written this as a response to the picture- it's a snippet from a story I've already written part of, that the picture reminded me of.

The moonlight shone through the spaces in the leafy canopy above us, lighting the path ahead and bathing us in a dim, white light. Other than the sound of rustling leaves, and twigs snapping, there was no sound. After what seemed like only seconds, we walked into a huge clearing. Right in the middle there was a lake. The surface was smooth, mostly, except when a slight breeze made it ripple the tiniest little bit.
"This is... Beautiful." I said quietly. "I've never been here at night before."
"I thought you would like it..." He looked down at me, smiling. We sat together, on a fallen log that was only a few paces away from where we'd been standing. Before either of us could say anything, there was a huge splash, and I looked up to see the tail of what looked like a massive trout, disappearing back under the water.
"Come back here in the day, try to catch him." Béla suggested, looking at it then back at me.
"Come with me?" I'd talked before I thought about it; as soon as I realised how it sounded, it felt like my cheeks were on fire.
"If you want me to." He didn't sound embarrassed; in fact, I'd have said he was surprised, and shy, like he honestly didn't think I was serious. Almost without thinking, I got hold of his hand.
"Of course I do, I... I..." I'd been going over and over how to say it for weeks and I thought I'd nailed it. Seeing him in front of me, insecurity still clear in his eyes, my mouth ran completely dry, and I'd never felt less ready to say something in my entire life. When I still couldn't say it seconds later, I kissed him. Just once. And gently. But that was enough.
"Alex..." He whispered, just before he did the same to me.
"I never thought you'd WANT... I wanted to tell you for weeks, but I-" I stammered, stopping when his lips lightly grazed mine.
"I was exactly the same." He admitted, smiling a little when he saw I was surprised. "I have been alone since... Before I was a soldier."
That was an improvement. It was the first time he'd mentioned anything to do with the army without ending up in that place where he could only shake, and I could only watch.
"Really?" I tried not to make a big deal out of it, but I couldn't help being surprised.
"At first, with training and fighting, there was no time. And then, afterwards..." He swallowed, took a deep breath and reached for my hand. "I did not think I could trust again."
That was the closest he'd ever been to talking about what happened; I waited for a few seconds, just in case he said any more, and when he didn't I kissed him again. Gently, like the first time. The kiss felt like everything people say it should and so much more, and I'd never had that before.

This is an interesting little snippet that leaves me wondering about the soldier's past. Something more than fighting happened to him, I'm sure. A very tender scene with a hint of mystery. Nicely done.

God bless and thanks for sharing.
Marlicia
with God all things are possible_________________Be patient with me. Like any good story, I'm a work in progress.